Allegheny County is Going Yellow

Apologies for the time it has taken to update this page.

Many reasons-- 1. It is somewhat depressing to be out of the pool for this long. 2. My specialty as a PA is inpatient adult infectious diseases 3. This is truly a "fluid" situation. The moment I have a post in my head-- the situation changes.

However we had a zoom team meeting run by Coach Dan Taylor with Coach Matt present. 10 days ago: The summary is below. The updates are that we are on schedule for Yellow. Groups under 25 ok. Please wash your hands, keep them from your face, don't lick your neighbor. But the incidence in this county is low. For now. In the nest two week I/ we will be meeting up with USMS national, the local LMSC leadership team and awaiting the counties decisions for pools both public and private. I have been in discussion with both the FCRC (we are getting our recs online as the county ones come online...) and CSC. I will reach out to FCGC and Coach Dan is in touch with the FCHS. What this summer looks like is a question mark but I am optimistic that we might get into the pools!!!

Minutes/summary from 5/1/2020 Zoom FFH meeting with Coach Dan and Pres Scott Resek.

*The bottom line is we await the Gov lifting the shelter in place and allowing us to move outside a bit, we then look to the County Health Department to add their 2 cents and finally to the clubs that we rent to determine what we can do. We look to USA swimming and USMS for guidelines of course.

*What could that look like? We could be limited as to how many are allowed at practice at a time. There will be NO sharing of equip,ent with any facility that we rent, it is time to buy your own-- so look for sale items. We recommend fins, kick board, paddles and pull buoy. If you are interested in a snorkel-- many of us have them.

*What about drop ins? The honest answer is that we do not know. If we are limited to how many can be in the pool at a time, our regular members have to have priority. I am aware that Pitt will not be open for some time and know that people might want to drop in-- should we have water and space I am more inclined to include our local Allegheny County USMS swimmers if we have extra space. As an ID practitioner I feel the need to protect you/our herd. Which means that visiting swimmers might be out for the summer. Allegheny County's numbers are great-- swimmers coming in from areas where there are higher peaks worry me more than here. It is hard to imagine that there will be a lot of travel this summer, but we will have plans for these scenarios..

*We spoke of trying to have some dryland practices once/assuming that we are able to gather outside. Stay tuned. The air and the grass are fantastic places. And chlorine does kill Sars CoV-2.

*We talked about refunds/financial issues. FCKW is in good financial standing. We are not paying for water that we are not using. Of course they are also not generating new money-- but there is much appreciation for our patience, especially those of us who paid for the entire year in fall. Please know that if you are experiencing financial hardships reach out. And if we cannot swim, there will be some sort of refund. We are just waiting to see what could happen..... And ever optimistic.

*We spoke of coaching-- Matt and Dan are looking forward to coaching us-- Thor is available and hoping that we get into the pool, Coach John is working on his mountain main length beard. I will work on finding Coach Andy!

*And the local pools-- FCRC is hoping that we can swim there-- again we will not share their equipment and we may have to consider that we cannot shower or use the locker rooms to get ready for work. (Again, assuming that we can go to work. Assuming that we have jobs). FCGC and CSC know we are looking forward to and hopeful for swim time. I am not as confident that FCHS will be open for the summer, this will be very much government based. If you know someone with a pool......If you just found out that there was a pool in your basement... lmk.

*There will be open water-- if you know of a swim that is happening or a group hitting a local body of water, please share. Cory and I can share on social media.

*As many of you know-- UPMC has started back with surgeries. They are screening people with the pcr nasopharyngeal swab before this surgery which helps gather data about asymptomatic incidence in the area. They just aren't seeing any. Yet. We are on the down swing. Again, for now.

*The words fluid have never been used so often when not referencing liquid.

*Any thoughts? Ideas? Email us!